While last year was the year of virtual events, this year is the year of hybrid events as we work our way out of COVID-19 quarantines and back into in-person events. MWC Shanghai 2021 was moved up from June to Feb to trade places with MWC Barcelona as Europe was still dealing with COVID-19 restrictions. MWC Shanghai was the first event of the year in our industry and used a hybrid format so was the first large in-person trade show too. They expected about 200 exhibitors and about 20,000 visitors, about a third or the normal amount, and reports were that they exceeded those numbers so was a successful event. All pass holders were able to explore the virtual exhibition and network with global decision-makers via video, before, during and after the show for the virtual component. The keynote speeches, conference sessions, partner programs and summits were live-streamed and available on-demand, catering to viewers from every time zone online.

The next large hybrid event coming up in our industry is IMS 2021 taking place in-person in Atlanta, GA USA, 7-10 June. This annual event attracts RF and microwave engineers from around the world but with COVID-19 restrictions still in place in many countries, it is expected to be mostly a domestic event in-person with a virtual version taking place two weeks later 20-25 June. You can register for either event but if you register for the in-person event and attend, you get the same level of registration for the virtual event at no extra cost. Since this is the largest RF and microwave event of the year, participating in the virtual conference and exhibition is a great opportunity as you have plenty of time to attend the sessions and exhibition as the virtual event will be on-demand for a month. Attendees will have several weeks to watch the recorded sessions and visit virtual stands from companies exhibiting. You can ask questions about products and capabilities to the exhibitors, watch video demos and download brochures and data sheets.

EDI CON China has also decided on a hybrid approach and will take place as EDI CON Across China. The virtual portion of the event will be held 12-13 May online with some excellent keynote speakers from China Mobile and Nokia. Then there will be two small local events in-person taking place 22-23 July in Shanghai and 9-10 December in Shenzhen. These in-person events will feature a conference with tabletop stands from sponsoring companies.

Rounding out the year, European Microwave Week was going to take place in-person in London during October but wisely delayed the event until 13-19 February. It will still take place in London so will likely kick off the new year in 2022 when we hopefully, get back to a more normal trade show environment of doing fully in-person events again.

EDI CON China will resume its normal in-person event in April taking place in Beijing in 2022. I will start traveling again this June attending IMS in-person so hope to start seeing everyone face to face instead of in front of a computer!